Claris' FileMaker is presented as a Workplace Innovation Platform, and is used to create a custom app. Manual processes can be automated with Claris FileMaker Pro, and apps can be created to manage contacts, track inventory, organize projects, etc.
$21
per month per user
Creatio
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Creatio is a provider of a platform to automate industry workflows and CRM with no-code and maximum degree of freedom. The Creatio offering includes a no-code platform (Studio Creatio), CRM applications (Marketing, Sales, and Service), industry workflows for 20 verticals and marketplace add-ons.
If your company is really small, I can understand the need for a product like this. However, I would go for MS Access... FileMaker Pro can not be integrated with other systems (like MS Access can at least be handled by C# for instance, and can be integrated with MS Excel or even SQL server). I'm really not sure in what scenario one would choose for FileMaker Pro. If your application or company grows bigger, you're going to have a problem to move to another environment. Also, the fact that only one person can work with the backend at any given time is a problem in a somewhat larger company.
Changing CRMs can be a very daunting proposition. Creatio's Support and Customer Success teams have been nothing short of fantastic as we recently navigated this change. The regular check-ins helped ensure we had the tools we needed to be successful. I do not have any programming background or experience. Creatio's low-code design has allowed me to implement the majority of changes very easily without additional third-party consultants. Some of the resource documents have not been updated to current versions of the software and/or would benefit from 'How to' videos for the novice user/administrator.
The relational database management system makes the program highly customizable to fit the needs of any product. You can add a ton of information to each record and update your inventory on a regular basis with an Excel import or manually inside of the record. It has the capability to incorporate barcoding, which can manage your available inventory with ease.
The scripting language allows FileMaker to automatically calculate complex algorithms automatically or generate report outs with the click of a button. This allows for greater UI, especially with active users who are not familiar with writing code. Almost all of our internal data is linked to the FileMaker database
The server license allows many users to update the database in real time, which is handy if your inventory is constantly changing. We have users with Macs, PCs, iPhones and handheld tablets linked to our FileMaker database and they are updating the information constantly throughout the day.
If you invest some time into formatting and scripting the database, there is a high ease of use for users without knowledge of any programming or FileMaker itself.
Creatio's client success team is super. The team is collaborative, solution-oriented, and client-driven. We have weekly meetings with the team. They show up prepared with solutions/ideas to business requests and they are clearly engaged.
Creatio's infrastructure team has been critical to our ability to execute our cloud strategy. They have worked with us to set up our testing and production environments within Azure, assisted in testing, and are responsive and flexible to our unique requirements.
Creatio has been very flexible to requests for customization. We have taken their low-code out-of-the-box solution and "Ringlerized" it. The benefit for us is an application that meets our niche business needs.
Developer features need to be beefed up - namely adding the ability to search code for a phrase or keyword and the ability to do the same in the "relationship graph" in the database.
Add ability for users to edit the same table record at the same time by version control.
Allow Filemaker Server to use more than 1 core; currently multi-processing is not supported and it can be tricky to find just the right server to support the application you've built to the fullest capacity.
It it not really up to me but my opinion does have some weight in the decision and the reason I would renew my use FileMaker Pro 8.5 is because I am finally getting used to it! Now that I have been working with the program, tasks have become quicker and projects are getting done faster. File Maker Pro 8.5 really is a versatile tool and I think we are just scratching the surface with it's abilities.
We have always used a CRM and Creatio has proven to be much more effective in meeting our needs than our previous provider. Its customizability will allow us to adapt this product as our business may change in the future.
The usability rating I'm providing is for the development interface - the usability of the application you build is relative to how much effort is put into the application. Filemaker needs to roll out some features that are "modern" sooner rather than later. They do roll out new features every year, but at a slow pace. We generally get 1 new TRULY useful feature every year. They need to step it up some!
Because it is so easy to use and navigate through - even the most technophobic people in our company are using it on a regular basis. It is easy to change around and switch through different sections and keep neat and tidy.
Other than the daily maintenance window where the server may be inaccessible for a few minutes, there have been no issues with accessing our Creatio site. The daily maintenance window is outside normal business hours so it does not affect our Users - just myself when I am looking to implement changes.
Some Users have reported slow responses from the server at times which seems to be localized. Users are based across four different time zones and the issue is intermittent.
The forums are great with lots of helpful experts and the staff monitor them to provide help where needed. There have been a couple of unique technical issues I've had to deal with that I haven't been able to get resolved so I chose to score this a 9 instead of a 10.
The people at the Creatio offices world wide are very friendly, patience and always happy to help. I have a huge respect for them, especially the people that were based in the Ukraine. Still in these strange times they always keep the focus on the customer, where we would have totaly understanded it if it was any different. So huge compliments to the whole team, keep up the energy and the good work
Most of the roadblocks to learning were not discovered until the users were actually in the system using it on a day to day basis. Our Customer Success Manager has offered to setup additional training sessions as needed to close the gaps in our learning. Some areas which required some additional training are setting up filters, dashboards, and generating reports.
Suggest you use an iterative R.A.D. or AGILE development approach. (i.e. rather than writing a gigantic spec for a system, then building it). FileMaker facilitates quick prototypes. Developing an example, then allowing users to "try it out" is a snap.
The project manager for our implementation was great to work with and took the time to understand our business. We felt very comfortable going into the project with a reasonable scope of work to provide us with a functional version of Creatio to meet our needs. Unfortunately, we came across multiple challenges with this partner in their deliverables and timelines. Thankfully Creatio was able to provide support resources to ensure we were able to launch. We have since changed partners for our third-party support.
FileMaker is still the quickest way to go from zero to having a minimum viable working solution. Simple solutions can be built in as little as a afternoon of development. It is the only tool I am aware of which allows tech savy end users with domain knowledge to build bespoke apps for their businesses without undertaking professional software development training.
The user-friendliness of Creatio was a big selling point along with the low-code initiatives, both of which were important to our business. With Salesforce, unlimited wasn't really unlimited. You couldn't deploy an on-site instance and the overall cost of the system far outweighed the ROI. These are all things Creatio offers, out-of-the-box.
We are a more agile company because of FileMaker. A few of us who are tech-savvy enough to manage the database (but are not professional developers) can make needed adjustments to our database without having to employ an in-house developer or contract with a 3rd party. As our business processes evolve and change, it's easy to update the database to accommodate those changes.
